


Responsibilities and Priorities

by EzraTheBlue



Series: Destiny [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Conversations, Emotional Constipation, Father Figures, Insecurity, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21767992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EzraTheBlue/pseuds/EzraTheBlue
Summary: In the wake of separating from the Prince's retinue after Jared's death and his conflict with Ignis and Prompto, Gladio and Cor have a chat about what's important.(Side story toDefects and Destiny)
Relationships: Prompto Argentum/Ignis Scientia (mentioned)
Series: Destiny [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1562773
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	Responsibilities and Priorities

**Author's Note:**

> In Chapter 18 of Defects and Destiny, Cor asks Gladio, “Is this why we had to have a ‘responsibilities and priorities’ talk last time you and I saw each other?”
> 
> This is the talk they had. This takes place in/around Chapter 14, or after Gladio leaves at the end of Chapter 13 and before he returns in Chapter 15. This is also something I thought about when I played through Episode Gladiolus for the first time fairly recently. Cor and Gladio had a few talks about Gilgamesh, Cor's journey, and the actual trial, not to mention Gladio's father's perspective on it, but, based on my understanding, Gladio left because he was having inadequacy issues and struggling with his place. Maybe he and Cor could have talked about that.

**Responsibilities and Priorities**

Gladio still had fond memories of going out for long weekends with his father, setting up a tent in the forest that served as a “buffer” between the Citadel proper and the rest of Insomnia, having a campfire and grilling meat, going hiking, and just spending some quality time. Iris joined them when she was old enough. Noctis came a few times, pretending not to enjoy it. Ignis had joined once or twice, because he so rarely had the time to escape the Citadel and his duties, but he’d been surprised at how much he’d enjoyed it. Gladio missed those trips as their frequency dwindled over the years. He understood why, but he still reminisced over the quality time with his dad, his family, his friends, and longed for just one more trip. He just wanted to get lost in the woods for fun one more time.

He’d never gotten to take Prompto, after all.

Sitting out here in the middle of nowhere with Cor made Gladio remember those trips more keenly than ever. How different camping was now stood out more starkly than ever. He’d been camping with the others intermittently since he’d left the Crown City with Noctis and the rest of the retinue, but that had been different. That was about survival, a safe place to sleep, but as they’d gotten used to their situation, Gladio had managed to find a little more joy in it. He was with his friends, right? They were sitting around the campfire, playing games, laughing and talking. Maybe he could take what little joy in this situation there was and run with it.

Then, Prompto had dropped the bomb on them, and Gladio had run into the fire screaming in fury, fighting back when he should have been putting the fire out. Being alone with Cor, isolated by his own failures, only made it clear that being out in the wilderness wasn’t about being out there. It was about who he was there with.

What Gladio had to figure out was how to get back.

“How’s the scratch?” Cor asked coolly as he passed Gladio the kettle. Gladio grimaced and poured boiling water into the styrofoam cup, then poured some onto a cloth to mop out his healing scars as the noodles cooked.

“It’s there.” He looked down at the gash across his chest. Cross his heart, he thought with a wry smile. “It’s proof I lived. Proof I did it.”

“Yeah,” Cor agreed with a rough rumble in his tones, and Gladio saw him faintly smile. “Did you get what you came out here for?”

Gladio wasn’t sure how to answer, and from Cor’s hard stare, he’d taken too long to answer. “I guess so. Mostly. Something Ignis said told me I needed to, y’know. Test myself.”

“Something Ignis said?” Cor mused curiously. 

“Yeah.” Gladio touched the cloth to his forehead, and grimaced. He didn’t want to tug it any more, the skin was sensitive enough already. “He said he was being tested. By the situation.” He had to leave it vague. It wasn’t his place to say more than that. “He said he thought he was passing. Meanwhile, I…” Gladio hesitated. Cor clearly already knew what he wasn’t saying.

“We all have our failings.” Cor’s eyes twitched as he lifted his coffee mug and took a sip. “I failed the same trial you just passed years ago, and was lucky to escape with my life. I failed… I’ve failed more times than I can count, and paid the price every time.” He put the mug down and sighed. “It’s what we do to come back from those failings that makes the difference.”

“Yeah?” Gladio looked at the dried blood streaking the washcloth. “Yeah, I guess.” He tossed the cloth aside to clean later, then took up his cup and gave the broth a swirl. The noodles still looked a little stiff, so Gladio resisted their siren call and made himself look Cor dead on. “I got my ass handed to me by Ravus Nox Fleuret.”

Cor clicked his tongue. “And you walked away with your life. I don’t know much about the High Commander, but he’s formidable, and that Magitek arm of his can’t have made him any less dangerous.” Cor patted Gladio’s back. “You’ve proved yourself a powerful warrior. You learned from your experiences with the Blademaster, didn’t you? Apply what you learned and test your mettle again, if you care to. Or don’t.” Cor took another sip of coffee as he withdrew. “Live to fight another day. Live to protect Noctis. That’s the important thing, isn’t it?”

“Yeah?” Gladio sighed, and thought of the dirty looks he’d been getting from Noctis at every wrong step for the days before he’d taken his leave. “I… I failed as a friend, too.” Cor looked up, brow knit, frowning but clearly curious.

“In what way?”

Gladio sucked his lower lip in, as his mind’s eye flashed over the friends he’d had to walk away from. Noctis, his prince, who fought through his old injuries and his own grief in whatever way he thought he could. Ignis, always thinking and feeling his way through every situation. Prompto, forcing optimism despite the daunting odds.

Ignis angry enough to shout at him. Noctis angry enough to strike him. Prompto, crying in fear of _him._ Prompto, bruises on his neck and chest _from him._ Prompto, more of a mystery than Gladio had thought such a straightforward, kind, cheerful kid like him could be, _afraid to be honest with him._ _Afraid of him._ Prompto and the baby he’d been hiding under his armor standing between him and death.

“Can I ask you something?” 

“It’s what I’m here for.” Cor was eyeing Gladio sideways now. “Go on.”

Gladio hesitated, stalling by stirring his noodles, then muttered, “Where’s the line?”

“The line.”

“My whole life, I’ve been told I was born to protect Noct. My dad, his whole life, he was supposed to protect King Regis. I know-” The words lodged in Gladio’s throat for a second, and they came out wobbly: “he died doing his job.”

Cor’s mouth set into a thin line, but he nodded. “Yeah. You would have been proud of him.”

Gladio felt a little sick: “But there was a line, between what he had to do, and what he did because he wanted to, wasn’t there? He loved his job, but… but where was the line between what he wanted to do, and what he had to do?”

“That’s a tough thing to answer.” Cor grimaced and set his coffee mug aside again to look Gladio in the face. “He certainly did more than he had to. He would stay up with Regis, especially when you and Iris got older, helping him plan for meetings, and he definitely put in more hours than were strictly required. He and Regis were friends as much as they were comrades, King and Shield. He and Regis grew up side by side, like you and Noctis did.” Cor’s mouth tightened a little. “But there was a line. It wasn’t a thick line, but there was a line.”

“I’m having trouble finding it. The line between being me, and being Noct’s Shield.” Gladio looked down into his noodles. “It might sound stupid, but I wanted to prove myself as a Shield, and somehow, I walked away from it wondering if a Shield is all I am. All I really can be.”

“It’s not. You’re a brother, son, and friend.” Cor eased over to sit next to Gladio. “Clarus was the same. He was a friend of mine, took care of me when I was still a punk teenager, so proud to be a Crownsguard that I forgot to be me. He’s probably the reason I survived my facedown with the Blademaster.” Cor slapped a hand on his back. “He was like a big brother to me. Like you’re a big brother to Iris, like you watch over the others like a hawk.” Gladio hung his head.

“I… I messed up. I let my frustration and anger at… at everything get the better of me. I was outright cruel, almost trying to hurt them to get my point across that they could get hurt if… if I wasn’t strong enough to protect them.” Gladio’s voice broke too suddenly for him to stop it. “Jared died because _I wasn’t there_. Iris was so damn scared, because I wasn’t there for her… and… Prompto…”

“I see.” Cor remained carefully neutral. “It’s tough. Sometimes, things happen on the job you can’t predict or prevent. I’m as responsible for Jared’s death as you. I wasn’t there either.” He sighed. “But I have to protect all of Lucis, too, so there’s a Lucis left for Noctis when the sun finally sets on this war. See, that’s the thing with a job like what you have. In a way, it’s a balancing act between what you have to do and what you want to do so much you feel like you have to.” His arm rested on Gladio’s shoulder, and Gladio suddenly felt very small again. “The real trick is defining your responsibilities and priorities.”

Gladio glanced to him, raising an eyebrow. “How’s that?”

“What is it you want to do? Not right now, but in general.” Cor leaned down and looked Gladio in the face, and Gladio dared return eye contact to let Cor hold him with a steely gaze. “You want to protect Noctis. That’s your ultimate duty, at its core. You want to protect Ignis and Prompto, but that’s not your job, even if doing it will make your job easier because they help protect Noct too.”

“It’s more than that,” Gladio admitted. “They’re my friends. I don’t want any of them to get hurt, because they’re my friends.”

Ignis had been his friend before Noctis had. Even Prompto still held a special place in his heart, even if the shape of that had changed a lot.

“Right.” Cor nodded sagely. “That’s not a responsibility. That’s a priority. Everyone has things that are more important to them than their jobs, no matter how vital their jobs are, and when the time comes, those priorities win out.”

“Yeah?” Gladio raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Cor turned his stare into the fire. “Your old man. I did ask him later, why he never went back for the Blademaster. Sure, Regis was more important when we first found the place, but Clarus was in his prime still, maybe even stronger than he was when we’d been escorting King Regis around Eos to find his Royal Arms. However, by then, you were around, and Clarus said he couldn’t leave you behind.”

Gladio felt like he’d been stricken all over again.

“Regis was Clarus’ duty first, but you and Iris were more important to him than that. Regis understood, too. For example, your camping trips?" Gladio's heart jumped into his throat, as Cor stared into the fire. "King Regis would be bottled up in his office with me or General Drautos watching his every move without his bodyguard, but Clarus deserved to have his weekends away to spend with his children.” 

Gladio sucked his lower lip in. A wall of emotion had risen up within him and pressed out against all of his tender places, his aching scars, his sore heart. 

“Regis would make time in his schedule for Noctis, as much as he could,” Cor added. “It wasn’t much, but he did everything he could for his son. Likewise, Ven Scientia, when he was alive, spared every moment he had to bolster Ignis. Raising the next generation to stand as tall as they had was vital to them. Clarus knew that a day would come, and long before either of you were ready for it, that you and Iris would mourn his death in the line of duty. Making sure the two of you were strong enough to keep going without him, and that you remembered that you were loved, was more important to him than you can imagine.” 

Gladio choked back a laugh. “Is… is that so?” His dad sure had a way of loving him, but he couldn’t say he didn’t think his dad loved him. 

“Yeah.” Cor chuckled. “So, there’s things that are your responsibility, sure. But there are things that are priorities. You’ve got the time to think, you know. What’s actually important to you, Gladio?”

“They are.” Gladio hardly had to think about it. “They… they stood by me, after… after I humiliated myself. It wasn’t until I took my own anger at myself out on them, because of our… situation…”

“We all make mistakes. It’s what you do to make up for them that matters.” Cor gave Gladio a little space as he hunched where he sat. “Regis and Clarus made a mistake like that once. We left a friend behind, because they put duty over their friendship. It lost all of us two friends in the long run. Regis never knew exactly how to make up for it. There are two men who both cared about him and supported Regis, who would have defended him to their dying breath, if Regis had let them, but…” Cor’s gaze narrowed into the distance. “They were young and rash. They didn’t know the damage that decision would have.”

“Then how do you make up for mistakes that destroy friendships? I apologized, but-”

“It’s not a matter of apology. It’s a matter of proving that you’ve learned from your mistakes, and seeing if they’re willing to forgive you.” Cor stood, just to put his palm on Gladio’s shoulder again. “When you go back to them - and I know you’re planning on going back to them - go with your priorities in mind. Show them how important being their friend is to you. Be their friend again. Then, see if they’re willing to be yours.”

Gladio squeezed his eyes shut, thinking. “And if they aren’t?”

“Give them time, give them space. Noctis is still your responsibility, for the time being, and you’ll live up to it. Besides, I imagine you’re important to them, too.”

Gladio winced, and recalled the bewilderment in Ignis’ face, the soft anger in Noctis’ voice, and Prompto’s wobbling lower lip when he’d told them he was leaving. “I think so.”

“That’s good. They weren’t too happy to see you go, huh?” Cor smiled wryly, and his last pat on Gladio’s back was a little firmer. “Go back to them, Gladio. You know they missed you. You’ve got a great story to tell, if nothing else.”

“More than that. They’re important to me.” Gladio smiled too, but it came from a softer place. 

He had a soft spot. His dad had, too. Why else would he spare his weekends to take a bunch of kids out into the forest to grill hot dogs and walk around on trails when his King needed protection? He’d known that Ignis held Prompto nearly as high as he did Noctis, and he certainly did more for Noctis than was strictly required by his job. Prompto and Noctis were practically brothers, and Noctis had put Prompto above his responsibilities even when he really probably shouldn’t. Noctis had never been a job to Prompto. 

Junior wasn’t a job, either. Junior was a surprise, and Prompto was probably trying to figure out where he or she landed in the priorities. Pretty damn high, in Gladio’s opinion, but there were a lot of high-priority things in their lives right now.

Gladio had to remember that.

“They’re not just part of the job,” he told himself. “They’re my friends.” He picked up his noodles and slurped at the broth.

He would have a lot of work to do when he got back to them, but it would be worth it. Maybe someday, they could all go camping together, all five of them, with Iggy and Prompto’s kid sitting on his knee.

Cor wanted there to be a Lucis left when all was said and done. Gladio, too, thought for the first time of the future past this road trip and remembered a time when he’d been hoping for Ignis and Prompto to fall in love and live happily ever after. 

Maybe there would be a happily ever after for them, and Gladio decided it was his priority, as far as those two were concerned, hell, _all_ of them, to get them there. 


End file.
